The Snow
by Grant
Summary: It’s snowing on a distant planet, and the aliens are terrified.


PART ONE: THE SNOW  
  
1  
  
It was snowing. Somehow, it was snowing. This planet had never seen rain, let alone snow, and the commotion it was causing was beyond description. All of the Enchu's thought that they were going to die. All of them. They took shelter where they could, but for many there was just no escaping the small cold white things. When Dartmouth looked up (Dartmouth being a particularly old Enchu at three hundred and twenty seven Grendo years), and a snowflake landed on his cheek, and melted - well Dartmouth screamed. The sound that came out of his Dart-like mouth (go figure) was a piercing combination of a piano cord scrape and a dog's lingering bark. It was awful. Like the cold, cold snow.  
  
"Mglou ne tradevrio!" said Dartmouth (phonetically translated of course), after his scream had been let out. Beside him another Enchu's head swung round, she looked at him with her wide black eye, as if to answer, but in that moment a snowflake landed on her nose and she too, screamed.  
  
"Mgglndaaadaaaaaa!!!!!" said Dartmouth's female companion (her name, translated into its English equivalent, was Pointynose). Dartmouth jumped over to her and wiped the snowflake from her nose, then wiped his hand on the cloth of his collar as if the little wet splotch were a particularly large and disgusting buger. To him this cold wet stuff was dangerous, and he wanted none of it on either his or Pointynose's skin. It was too foreign, too odd.  
  
"Bremlougne!" Dartmouth screamed, looking around as the snow fell in calm swirls from the sky. "Bremlougne ne tradevrio!"  
  
"Bremlougne ne tradevrio? Mglou ne tradevrio, glon?" she asked.  
  
Dartmouth just looked at her.  
  
The two aliens were standing on a hill, and there was no cave or shelter in sight. For better or for worse, they were stuck to feel the cold wrath of the snow (which was calm, and would be, for other species, quite lovely). Two suns could be seen setting on the horizon, and the clouds that were magically forming this strange stuff, they were thicker than they had ever been on Grendo. Normally the closest thing these beings got to clouds were thin wisps of mist, which had always laid low to the ground, and flowed through the trees and hills with the ground shaping and dictating the path. Something, was happening.  
  
Meanwhile (cue clock wipe), at the outer rim of this distant galaxy, there was a starcruiser named the Eldron Hummingbird. It was fairly small, and it was being followed by something very large.  
  
2  
  
We join two Jedi, Rodger and Frank, in the middle of a discussion.  
  
"...the Sith Lord, Rodger, it can't be!"  
  
"Yes Frank, it can. I have foreseen it. In that ship lies the bery heart of evil..."  
  
"Berry?" A pause.  
  
"...very heart of evil, a being so cold that his bery soul cries out, and it is the Darkside, Frank, the Darkside, that answers. There is no hope for him, and if he catches up, Frank, if he catches up, there will be no hope for us."  
  
"You speak true."  
  
"Yes, my Padawan learner, I speak true. I always speak true. The force is strong with me. The light side of the force, the good side. I am the best."  
  
"You have become overconfident master, it could lead to your downfall."  
  
"Oh shut up. Throw it into light speed would you."  
  
Frank, the loyal but somewhat rebellious Padawan learner, hit a large lever that looked suspiciously like a fader used in the control room of a television studio. There was nothing but a sputter. Frank looked to Rodger.  
  
"The Hyperdrive!"  
  
"Fix it you fool! Fix it! The Sith Lord approaches!"  
  
Frank ran towards the back of the ship through a tunnel, and Rodger was left with both his thoughts and the Force. The Force was strong with this one, bery strong. But Rodger had a sneaking suspicion that in Frank, in Frank the Force was even stronger. A high Mediclorian count or something.  
  
3  
  
The Sith Lord stood inside his ship like a god, and though there was no wind, his cape flapped gently behind him, making him seem larger and more fierce than any being, anywhere. This guy was badass. You could tell.  
  
"Attack those puny Jedi, for only through violence is the supreme power bestowed upon us, only through destruction and killing and death are the powers of the Darkside... uh, powerful." His voice was deep, like Darth Vadors without the funny breathing. His second in command (at the wheel of the stardestroyer) looked back at him but said nothing.  
  
"Attack!"  
  
4  
  
Meanwhile (cue star wipe), Dartmouth and Pointynose were headed Mglou ne tradevrio, which means east. The snow was still falling, and every time a snowflake landed on either alien there was a short scream, like the bark of a startled dog. A small dog. It was a bit like a yelp actually. One mixed in with a piano scrape.  
  
"Pthfeeeeuu!" said Dartmouth.  
  
"Pthfeeeu a boue oo. Mglou ne tradevrio! Eh Bremlougne ne tradevrio!"  
  
"Ahhs uh vi aaaaaiidd!"  
  
"Uhhnnnn flou idnt. Ouuu flaaaiidd Mglou!"  
  
"Ahh uck off."  
  
It was funny how close to English their language was. You could almost pick out the words. A snowflake landed on Dartmouth.  
  
"Ucckk!"  
  
A moment later he turned, and saw the edge of a wood of evergreens, far off in the distance. He started walking.  
  
"Ovr eeeerrr ou litch!"  
  
5  
  
"Wipe those puny Jedi from the face of the galaxy! Attack!"  
  
"Yes my Lord."  
  
6  
  
"Do I need to come back there and fix it?!" yelled Rodger. In front of him the beauty of the cosmos was seen, laid out in front of the ship like a shimmering blanket of stars. An explosion rocked the ship and Rodger almost fell out of his seat.  
  
"No, one minute..." replied Frank.  
  
"We don't have a minute! The Sith Lord's stardestroyer is up our ass!"  
  
"One... minute..."  
  
Another explosion went off. Very soon their rear deflector shield would fail, and if that happened...  
  
"Got it!" Frank yelled from the back. A moment later he was in the seat beside Rodger, his hand on the television fader thing. He looked at Rodger and yet another explosion rocked the ship.  
  
"The coordinates set?" asked Frank, his hand still on the hyperspace fader.  
  
"Grendo. We're going to Grendo."  
  
Frank smiled, and pushed the lever forward.  
  
7  
  
The Sith Lord watched the small ship jump away then disappear into the stars in a flash. He looked at his second in command.  
  
"They jumped to hyperspace Lord," Number Two said.  
  
"I know that you insignificant fool. Calculate all possible destinations along their last known trajectory, we must find them and destroy them."  
  
"If you don't mind me asking, Lord, why are these two so important? There are other Jedi out there, other fish to fry."  
  
"These two fish know something, and..." the Sith Lord looked down as his second in command punched something up on a keyboard. Planets zoomed onto a small holographic screen in front of him. The system was searching.  
  
"...I don't have to justify myself to you. One more stupid question number two and I'll choke you to death with the air itself. Because even the air falls under the sway of my dark powers, yes, even the air. I will make your muscles contract..."  
  
"Found them my Lord. They are headed towards a planet in the inner rim called Grendo."  
  
"Plot a course. You will not fail me, this time."  
  
"This time?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"When did I fail you before?" There was a pause.  
  
"Just go to Grendo. I am the Dark Sith Lord, and you will obey me."  
  
"Those are some good sound bites my Lord."  
  
"Sound bites?"  
  
"Yah, you sound cool saying that stuff. Real badass."  
  
"Thank you, that is what I was going for. I see why I keep you as my second in command, Joe, you make me feel bad. Which to me is good. Carry on."  
  
"Thank you my Lord."  
  
The Sith Lord turned in one swooping exaggerated motion, and his cape flowed out behind him and swung around in a really cool comic book like way.  
  
"Report back to me when we have reached the planet of Grendo. I will be in my chambers. Watching TV. There is a friends marathon on TBS. I like friends. I am going to watch it."  
  
"Yes my Lord."  
  
8  
  
Another wipe. This one is, say, a diagonal one. The Eldron Hummingbird had crash-landed at the edge of a forest of evergreens. Smoke was rising up from the ship and mixing in with the snow. On the ground there was almost a foot of the fluffy white stuff, and the branches of the trees hung low under weight of the soft, sparkling pillows. The moons were now out, and they hung low in the sky and cast their wonderful glow upon all. They were huge, and when the moonbeams danced across the surface of the snow, well, it was magic. Pure and simple.  
  
Rodger and Frank were alright. They were Jedi after all, not beings prone to dying in ship crashes. They were outside of the ship, and a little dazed. It was still snowing, though the clouds in the sky were now thin.  
  
"This is strange," said Rodger, "according to the ships nano computer this planet goes without rain or snow."  
  
"Then how do these evergreen trees get water?"  
  
"I wondered the same thing, my padawan learner, and in my pondering I found the answer. I have deduced that these trees get water from some sort of underground spring. That is my deduction. I can feel it. The force is strong with me."  
  
"Yes master. What do we do now?"  
  
"We must speak with the head of the Enchu race. The one eyed tripeds own this planet, and they are a strong and powerful and wise species. They live within nature, in tune with it, you see, and they go without the empty technological trappings to which so many species have succumb."  
  
"What?"  
  
"We gotta find a guy named Dartmouth."  
  
"Oh. Ok. Which way do we go?"  
  
"East, my dear padawan, we move east towards the rising twin moons. We shall find a..."  
  
"Wholly crap, look at that."  
  
Rodger turned and looked in the same direction as Frank. In the distance, clamouring over the top of a snowy hill, were two weird looking creatures. They were coming towards the forest, towards the ship, towards them.  
  
The creatures were covered in snow.  
  
"Ah! Run!" yelled Rodger.  
  
"But master, perhaps they can help us find this Dart..."  
  
"Run you fool. Run! Aliens!"  
  
"Of course they're aliens, we came here to find..."  
  
But there was no reasoning with Rodger when it came to things like this. Of all the Jedi Frank could have been stuck with, he had to get the one who was deathly afraid of aliens. A Jedi, afraid of aliens. It was preposterous.  
  
Rodger was already in the forest. Frank lingered for a few moments more and watched as the two small creatures struggled through the snow, shivering and afraid, arms around each other for support, hunched over in the otherworldly cold stuff that was still falling from the sky. Frank wanted to help them, but Rodger, well Rodger was his master, and master knows best. Frank ran into the forest, leaving tracks in the snow.  
  
9  
  
Dartmouth and Pointynose were struggling towards the ship that they saw in the distance. They had watched the Eldron Hummingbird pierce the sky in a fireball, and saw the crash itself.  
  
"Endel rufen elter!" yelled Dartmouth.  
  
"Restola endel elter!"  
  
"Redulevia rufen elter me say rats lheu mend of iet!"  
  
There was no arguing with logic like that, and Pointynose said no more. The snow continued to fall but it was lighter now, softer, lit only by the shimmering deep-blue light of the twin moons. Long, cold, wet moments later, they were at the Eldron Hummingbird. Seeking shelter and warmth, they went inside.  
  
10  
  
Rodger and Frank were watching from the bushes. After they had run cowardly into the cover of the evergreens, Rodger had decided that it would be best to watch the two Enchu's that were coming towards them and the ship, if only to see if he could feel their intentions.  
  
"I do not sense evil coming from those two master."  
  
"Nor do I, young padawan."  
  
"Then why did we run?"  
  
Rodger looked down, and there was a pause. "I'm afraid of aliens."  
  
"I know that master, but you said yourself we need to talk with a being called Dartmouth, is he not an alien? Must you not confront your fears? Is not fear the path to the darkside?"  
  
"Who is the teacher here? I am. You shut up."  
  
"Yes master."  
  
Rodger continued. "I must confront my fears young padawan, I must stand against these vile monstrosities..."  
  
"They're really not that bad."  
  
Rodger looked at him. "I must stand against these vile monstrosities if we are to complete our mission."  
  
"Which is to tell them about the..."  
  
"Shhhh... 'others' may be listening." Rodger motioned with his eyes. If these words were a movie camera, he would be looking right into the lens. Yes, Rodger means 'you' are listening. The force is strong with him. He can sense you spying on him, though he doesn't quite understand it because he can't see you at your computer. In this place you are sort of like an omnipresent god, standing above all, looking down on the events transpiring on the planet of Grendo. These words are your window, and Roger can feel you watching him because of the power of the force that binds and connects all.  
  
"To the Eldron Hummingbird," said Rodger.  
  
Frank stood up. "Ok. Lets's go."  
  
"Ok..."  
  
Frank looked at him. Rodger wasn't moving. "Come on, they're not that scary."  
  
"But they have one eye!"  
  
"So?"  
  
"They have pointy noses and dart-like mouth's! They're terrifying!"  
  
"Master, come."  
  
"Ok."  
  
And with that Rodger stood, and the two Jedi made their way out of the bush's and through the snow, towards the smoking ship stuck sideways in the ground at the edge of the wood.  
  
Rodger stopped. "But I don't wanna!"  
  
"Big baby. Come on."  
  
11  
  
In space above the planet a stardestroyer jammed on the emergency brake and came out of hyperspace. It hovered just over the massive looming planet below, the planet of Grendo.  
  
"We have arrived my lord," said Joe (also known as Number Two) into a small microphone that looked very out of place in a futuristic ship like this one.  
  
The Dark Sith Lord was in his chambers, and the television was on. 'I'll be there for yooouu, and you're there for me tooo, oo'. Ross was on the screen, standing just outside the closed door of the coffee house. Rachael was inside, cleaning up at the end of a shift. Ross was undecided about whether or not he should go in to tell Rachael that he liked her.  
  
Through a speaker came Joe's voice. "My Lord?"  
  
"Wait just one minute Number Two."  
  
Rachael looked up and saw Ross standing there in the window, and knew, knew, that Ross liked her.  
  
"My lord?"  
  
"What one damned minute number two!" His voice was strong, that of the most evil Sith Lord in the universe.  
  
"Yes my lord."  
  
Rachael came to the door, and opened it, and there was a moment of tension between her and Ross. Then they kissed, and oh what a glorious kiss it was. The Sith Lord smiled, then pressed a button.  
  
"Report Number Two."  
  
"We have arrived. Rodger and his sidekick have crash-landed on the planet. Should I send a probe?"  
  
"No, Number Two, I will deal with them myself. Prepare my ship."  
  
"Yes Dark Lord."  
  
"And Number Two..."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Ross and Rachael got together. I always knew they would."  
  
"Very well my Lord. That is good news."  
  
"Yes, good news indeed. But not quite so good as when Rodger and Frank are wiped from existence. They must not let the Enchu know about the power source that exists on Grendo. We must have that power Number Two, it is the final piece which will allow me to complete the ultimate weapon in the universe..."  
  
"The Death Star Lord?"  
  
"No, you fool. The Moon of Ending."  
  
"Oh, yes. The Moon of Ending. Sorry my Lord."  
  
"Is my ship prepared?"  
  
"Not yet my Lord, I have been talking to you."  
  
"Well prepare it!"  
  
"Ok my Lord."  
  
"Ok."  
  
"Alright." A long pause.  
  
"Number Two?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Oh... never mind."  
  
"You can talk to me my Lord, is something troubling you?"  
  
"No, I'm fine. I'll see you in the hanger."  
  
"Cool my Lord, see you there."  
  
12  
  
And so it was that Rodger and Frank found themselves creeping into their own crashed ship, on a planet covered in the deep blue light of the twin moons, with snow shimmering in great sparkling sheets of magic and mystery. The thin clouds flowed smoothly through the sky, and the last of the thin alien snow fell to the ground as if this world was but a snow globe, held in the hands of an omnipresent god, standing above all, looking down from some other place in the cosmos.  
  
So it was that a small ship came down through the atmosphere of this world, carrying within its belly the Dark Sith Lord and his Number Two, also known as Joe. They flowed down through the last remnants of the falling snow, sparked their retro rockets, then landed but a half kilometre away from the edge of the wood, the crashed ship, the two Jedi, and the Enchu leaders.  
  
The power source, which could breath life into the Moon of Ending, was also near, but it was well protected by beings that none of these Jedi or Sith or Enchu had yet encountered in all their wanderings and adventures, beings known to some as Vampyres, night walkers, ancient immortals who had their own plans for the great power source that lived on this distant planet of Grendo.  
  
Unknown to all but the gods looking down, everything, had to do with the snow.  
  
This, was but the beginning.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED... 


End file.
